The Wall Street Journal reported that the administration secretly organized the shipment of cash to Iran that coincided with the hostages’ release in January.

Since news of the payment was made public, the president has received a lot of criticism for approving the transaction.

Advertisement - story continues below

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump addressed the controversy at a rally Wednesday, saying, “I got up this morning, i picked up the papers, and I saw $400 million being shipped in cash … overnight to Iran. We have a president who is, frankly, incompetent. … It looks like we paid $400 million for the hostages, such an unbelievably bad precedent by Obama. Two more have been kidnapped since then, when is it going to end? What we are doing is insane.”

The White House stands by its claim the cash was paid as part of $1.7 billion Iran was owed from a failed 1970s arms deal, and that the timing of the payment to coincide with the hostages’ release was merely a coincidence.